North Dakota’s Blue “Super Moon” With A Special Guest This Week

The month's second full moon is about to appear this week in the eastern sky.

The Blue "Super Moon" will be a bright beacon of light for skywatchers on the evening of Wednesday, August 30th.  This will be the 2nd time we have been treated to a full moon this month, joining the Full Sturgeon Moon which took place on August 1st, according to an article on Space.com.

This moon will be about 7% larger than a normal full moon.

This is because this full moon coincides with perigee when the moon's orbit is closest to the earth.  Go big or go home right?  The last time we saw a Blue "Super Moon" was back in August of 2021 and we won't see another one until August of 2024.  Sounds like free entertainment to me with a six-pack of light.

The only thing that could put a damper on our viewing on Wednesday night would be a 30% chance of thunderstorms which are unfortunately in our forecast and could linger into early Thursday morning.

The Blue Super Moon will also be bringing a special guest with it this month. SATURN!

The ringed giant known as Saturn will be lying directly opposite of the sun as seen from Earth, making it especially bright in the night sky.  As viewed in North America, Saturn will be just above and to the right of the moon on Wednesday evening.

According to the Farmer's Almanac, Saturn is one of only 5 planets that are visible to the naked eye.  The others being Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter.

Even though we could probably use a shot of rain, let's hope the clouds cooperate and the sky will show us a visual treat on Wednesday evening.  The Blue Super Moon.